Monday Reading: Psalms 126 4-6
 
Key Verse: Psalms 126 5
5  Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.
 
Devotion:
It may be a small thing for us to look at the life of the Israelites and see that they were in captivity much of their history but it is quite another thing to get yourself out of captivity. We see so many times in earth’s history when the captives tried and failed to lift themselves up from the miry world of living in captivity; but each time that the people lifted up their earnest prayers to God, they were answered. And that is where the difference really is, not in the fact that we can do things if we really put our minds to it, but that when we put our hearts into our prayers, God take special note!

When we pray in earnest or seek the Lord with our whole heart then we will find that He is not only here but that He has already answered our prayers. It does not mean that we will never find ourselves in times when we feel down nor does it mean that we will never have any more troubles ahead but what it does mean is that our Comforter will always be with us. He will be with us when we do go down into places we do not want to be; He may well want us to go through that to learn that He is our special Comforter – but He will never leave us alone whilst we do lean on Him.

When we are told that we will be blessed beyond that which we can imagine it is not that we will never have rough times ahead but that when the blessing does come we will know that it can only come from God. We still live in a world where we are going to be surrounded by horrible things at times but just knowing deep in our hearts that God is the one looking out for us means that we can live with faith in His promises! If we are not willing to go through the rough times depending on Him then how will we know that His arms are around us? If we do not want to go where we fear then how will we know that we do not need to fear because He is with us? Walking with Christ means that we must go through things that He will allow in our lives because it is those things that He is using to build us up so that we may better serve Him.

Points to Ponder:
Do you find yourself struggling at times?

How much do you depend on God?

Sunday Reading: Luke 12 16-21
 
Key Verse: Luke 12 21
21  So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

Devotion:
Have you ever taken note of how much we get caught up in things that we like? I know I am one for getting totally carried away with working on computers; they can take up so much of your time if you are not weary of the time. If we are not careful then things like that will control our lives rather than us doing what is right. We have God’s Word, our bibles, which give us all we need to know about living our lives in a manner that would please God. There is no way we will be able to please everyone all the time but that should not stop us trying to please as many as we can!

If we are not careful for our time then we may well find that we run out of time and have to rush things through at the last minute. If we end up rushing things through then are we doing our best? I don’t think so. We need to make sure that we do allocate time for things in our lives to make sure that we do get the most out of the time that God gives each one of us. If we are filling our time with things that are profitable in God’s eyes then we are certainly pleasing Him. When we please others we are pleasing Him as well because we do it to His creation.

But, as always, we don’t give equal time to all things because we do allow ourselves to get carried away with things that we enjoy. If we are not careful we will find that those things can encroach on the time that we should be spending with God and His children. The parable of the rich man and his grain stores is one that must surely bring home to us the fact that we do not know how long we do have to live. Because of that, careful planning of our time is something that we do need to consider always. We need to spend time with God and in His word otherwise we will go off at a tangent and lose focus on what is important. It is no small thing that the first commandment given to Moses was that we should not have any other god before Him! Our treasures are with Him in heaven.

Points to Ponder:
What do you hold dear in your life?
 
Just how important is God in your life?

Saturday Reading: Luke 12 4-5
 
Key Verse: Luke 12 5
5  But I will warn you of whom you shall fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yea, I say to you, fear Him.

Devotion:
How do we overcome fear? Have you ever thought about the process we go through to overcome fear? We can be told not to be scared of something but until we either get to see that there is nothing to be scared of or we find we can overcome the obstacle then we tend to continue on in fear. The same goes for the opposite because there are many things in life that we should fear but do not because we do not know of the danger. If we take the recent events of the ash cloud from the volcano in Iceland that came over British and European airspace we can see how fear can do a lot of damage. Many people are now left wondering whether it was right to fear the ash cloud or not – but it would only take a single death to confirm our fear!

We do not see the wrath of God in our everyday life because we live in the age of grace – Jesus Christ has gone to the cross and lifted that awful death penalty that lay over us. We no longer have to bring our best sacrifice forward because Christ has done that on our behalf. If we were still living under the age of law before Christ came to earth then we would probably be brought up with a healthy respect for the wrath of God when things went wrong; but whilst things go along nicely we often forget about the power of God and even the power of the evil one.

There is a time when we will have to face Christ as our Judge and we will have to answer for the things that we have done. If we chose to ignore Him and to continue on in our own ignorance then we will have to face Him and explain why. The answer from Him will be short but everlasting. He will turn us away forever just as we have turned Him away all through our lives. It only take a short time to recognise our fate but we do need to do that before it is too late!

Points to Ponder:
Do you ignore Christ?
 
What will you say when you do meet Him?

Friday Reading: Luke 23 39-43

Key Verse: Luke 23 42
42  And he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.

Devotion:
I wonder how many times you have thought of the significance of the three crosses when Christ was crucified. Why were there crosses? Well, when we look into what happened that day we find the answer and the answer is that God wanted to make one more point that we should never forget. What an awesome stage to show us just how much He loves us, but what an awesome moment that is missed by so many people.

The two criminals were being crucified because of what they had done in their lives. When we do things wrong we can expect to have to pay in some way for what we have done wrong. Even now when we do something wrong we still have to pay for it – if we steal and get found out we have to pay for it in some manner, be it a fine or even a jail sentence. These criminals were now paying for the terrible things they had done wrong; but Jesus was innocent. The one criminal follows on from the people around and tempts Christ by saying “If you are Christ then save yourself and us!” because he had not quite realised what was happening. But the other one realised that Christ was innocent and that He was being offered as our innocent and pure sacrifice for our sins.

Realising his sins he turned to Christ and simply said “remember me when you get to heaven”. He did not think that he was worthy of forgiveness from what he had done wrong in his life, but Christ forgave him there and then. No matter what we have done wrong in our lives it is never too late to admit to those things and to ask for His mercy. Christ is faithful and just to forgive us just like He forgave that criminal on the cross. The point is that we have to first believe on Him and then admit our sins to Him. We don’t have to beg Him for mercy because He offered it first – all we have to be is honest in our belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and laid down His own life for our sins and then to bring those sins to Him.

Points to Ponder:
Do you feel guilty?

Have you admitted your sins to Christ?